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Joe Rogan Clarifies the Controversy Surrounding Alex Jones’ Appearance on the ‘Joe Rogan Experience’ Podcast

ByDarryl Pinto

Modified Oct 29, 2020 | 9:59 AM EDT

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UFC commentator Joe Rogan took to Instagram and commented on the most recent controversy that has surrounded his podcast platform. The host of the ‘Joe Rogan Experience’ podcast recently featured right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for a sit-down. As a result, Spotify, who signed a deal of up to $100 million with Joe Rogan, has come under heavy fire.

Chiefly, Spotify and other major platforms came in at de-platforming Alex Jones for ‘Hate Speech’ back in 2018. Jones is a magnet for controversy as he has built a career around his fiery hot takes and conspiracy theories. His show ‘Infowars’ was at this helm of the brand that Alex had created.

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Spotify users have called out the streaming service for double standards, as they’re wondering why Jones is back on their platform. The company’s chief legal officer and head of global affairs in Horacio Gutierrez spoke out on the situation, saying that Spotify wouldn’t ban specific individuals.

Joe Rogan sheds some light on the Alex Jones controversy

The long-time UFC broadcaster used his massive social media platform to provide some clarity to the situation. In addition to the aforementioned contention, the episode that Jones appeared on swiftly disappeared from the site. This understandably caused the pot to boil over, and Rogan was quick to lay it out.

View this post on Instagram

The conspiracy about the show with the conspiracy theorist… The episode that was uploaded to Spotify had some cache issues, and it wasn’t working correctly on some devices so the engineers had Jamie re-upload it with the same date, thinking it would fix the problem but still play for everyone like it was never missing. Didn’t quite work out perfect, which led to my phone getting hit up by people thinking it was removed. It works for me now, but some folks are still having trouble seeing it. They’re working on it. It IS however fucking classic and amazing that this glitch only shows up in the Alex Jones episode.
A post shared by Joe Rogan (@joerogan) on Oct 28, 2020 at 8:13pm PDT

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The COVID-19 vaccine conversation

What’s more, he also clarified a controversial aspect of their discussion involving the COVID-19 vaccine. The two debated the possible dangers of consuming the vaccine in the test phase, and Alex Jones had some interesting things to say. Jones’ views once again stirred up a larger conversation, and Joe Rogan shared an IGTV clip that sees Bill Gates corroborate some of his information.

View this post on Instagram

I knew people were going to criticize the content of the podcast without even listening and I was right. That’s why I fact checked every single crazy thing he said, and all of them were verified. People have said he spread “anti-covid vaccine conspiracy theories” because he said that 80% of the people who were given one of the vaccines got sick. Here’s the video of Bill Gates admitting it himself. Now, I’m NOT anti vaccine, and if a safe and effective covid vaccine is created I’ll take it and encourage others to take it, but I wanted to put this video up to validate what he said. He said a lot of crazy, but accurate things, and that’s what I’ve been saying about him for years. He’s most certainly fucked up in the past, but this episode and the subjects he exposed highlight why I chose to have him on.
A post shared by Joe Rogan (@joerogan) on Oct 28, 2020 at 3:43pm PDT

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The situation surrounding Jones’ appearance on the Podcast has led to some much-expected chatter around the same. The increased exposure largely stems from the fact that Rogan has the biggest podcasting platform in the world. Furthermore, as his viewership grows, there is no doubt that the future holds more fervent conversations around Joe’s content.